


Taken

by SpencerRemyLvr



Series: A Collection of Ideas [14]
Category: Criminal Minds, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Hurt Spencer, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Secrets, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:58:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3676527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpencerRemyLvr/pseuds/SpencerRemyLvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt "Kidnapped/tortured Spencer"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taken

How the hell could they have let this happen? That was the main thought running through Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner’s mind as he stood in the conference room of the LVPD, staring at a wall without actually seeing anything in front of him. How the hell had they let something like this happen? It should never have come to this. This horror should never have happened.

Four days ago the BAU had been brought to Las Vegas to help the LVPD in finding a serial killer in their midst. The Unsub was taking young men and women both, keeping them for a week before killing them and dumping their bodies in random places in Vegas. During the week he held them, not only did he torture them, but he recorded it all and streamed it live on a private website. The first day the person was taken, the Unsub sent a package to the family or friends of the victim, whoever was accessible for him. They would get a link that would take them to the secure website where he would stream a live feed for them. It ran all through the day and shut off each night from seven pm to seven am. For the first three victims, none of the families had come forward. The package had warned them not to go to the police. He told them that those he held deserved death.

It was the fourth victim’s family that had come forward to the police. That had been the stepping stone for the other families to bring forward their information as well. Four bodies in and with another victim missing, the BAU had been brought in to try and stop it before four became five. But they had been brought in with too little time and their Unsub was too talented with his technology so that even Penelope couldn’t track him. Four became five.

From the instant they got the case, the whole team had kept a close eye on Spencer. They knew it hit close to home for him, having these victims being tortured on video. Too well they all remembered the case with Tobias Hankel. So they watched him and they were there for him if he needed it, but he seemed to be handling all of it better than they had thought. When Aaron had offered to allow him to sit this case out, he’d shaken his head and dismissed their concerns about it affecting him with that usual, quiet way of his. He’d brushed it off in their days here, saying that he would be fine, the circumstances were different, and even saying that maybe it would help him find a better understanding of this Unsub. That last comment had made Aaron proud. Now? Now, he was choking on that pride.

The BAU team had woken to horror this morning. Derek, shouting to him in the hall, calling “Hotch! Guys!” and they’d all raced out, guns at the ready, to find Derek standing there with a note in his gloved hand. Aaron remembered the terror on Derek’s face. One of the most fearless of them, the type of person to get angry before afraid, and he’d looked terrified. Even as Aaron had taken the note, part of him had known. He had known. Reading the note had confirmed it.

_Dear BAU,_

_If you’re reading this, it means that you’ve finally realized that your precious Dr. Reid is missing. I wonder how long it took you to realize that. How does this make you feel right now? How does it make you feel to know that your precious teammate is missing? That the one you hunt actually managed to get into your hotel and take one of your own?_

_You know how the game works. I will send the package tomorrow; wait for it. You will have the link to your live video stream where you can watch your precious agent until his death. You cannot trace me. You cannot find me. You cannot save him._

_Time is ticking, agents. Do you still think you can find me? Oh, and if you think the little…extra that your precious Dr. Reid has might help him, let me warn you that I’m a little ‘extra’ as well. He will have no effect on me._

_Your UNSUB_

It was the ‘extra’ part of the note that worried Aaron the most, because there was something that no one outside of the team knew about Spencer—and that was that he was a mutant. A mutant that controlled electrical energy. If his mutation wasn’t able to help him, if the Unsub wasn’t lying that he was ‘extra’ as well, then that changed so much about this. Aaron had been faced with a decision that had barely taken any thought. Maybe if the circumstances had been different, he might not have been so quick to make this phone call. But this was Spencer, their youngest, one of their own, and Aaron would do anything to bring him back home. Already the young agent had lived through far too much hell. This…he didn’t need this, too. So Aaron had pulled out a number no one knew he had and called in a favor to an old friend of the family. Charles Xavier.

Already the man had been aware of a mutant serial killer in Vegas and he’d already sent a few of his people to check it out. When Aaron told him that one of his agents had been taken, Charles had promised their full assistance.

That was what they waited on now; the arrival of the X-Men. They were not idle as they waited, though. Penelope was doing everything possible to prepare to try and back trace the man’s signal. Dave and Derek worked with the CSU to try and see if they could gain anything from the hotel surveillance or the hotel room and then they’d canvassed to see if anyone had heard anything or seen anything. While they did that, Ashley and Emily went to find William Reid to see if he too had received a message. Aaron took care of the call to check on Diana Reid.

“Hotch.”

Emily’s voice cut into Aaron’s thoughts. Turning, he found her standing in the doorway, Ashley at her side and four people that Aaron didn’t know behind her. The Unit Chief drew himself up, wrapping the shield around him that he had perfected over the years. One of the people stepped around Emily, moving toward him and holding his hand out. He had a visor on his face that gave his identity away easily enough; Cyclops. These were the X-Men. “Agent Hotchner?” The man said politely. “I’m Cyclops. The Professor told us what’s going on. He also said he spoke with the locals here and that he got agreement from them for us all to work together. It’s my hope to solve this as quickly as possible.”

The man had a firm handshake and the bearing of a definite leader. Aaron nodded at him and hoped that these people could help. “That’s our hope as well and we appreciate any help you can offer us. I assume you’re all aware of the facts pertaining to the case?”

“We are. We’ve been watching the past few days and we briefed on the new information en route.” Cyclops gestured to the people behind him, bringing them forward. “Let me introduce who I’ve got with me and then we’ll get down to what we can do. This is my team; Wolverine, Storm and Gambit. If you don’t mind, I’d like to send Wolverine and Storm over to the hotel to take a look at Dr. Reid’s room, if at all possible. There might be things there they sense that others might not know to look for or have the ability to notice.”

“Of course.” Aaron answered instantly. “Prentiss, would you take them over? Stay with Morgan and let Dave know to head back here.”

Emily nodded but didn’t immediately move. “Hotch? William got a letter as well.” Pausing, she grimaced just slightly, barely noticeable to those that didn’t know her. It was obvious she didn’t want to say what she said next, especially not in front of others. However, this situation didn’t lend them the ability to be private the way they might wish. “He hadn’t even read it yet. When we explained what was going on, he handed it over and told us he didn’t need to read it and that he’d trust us to take care of things.”

Anger boiled low in Aaron’s stomach. No matter how many times they were faced with proof of it, it still baffled him that someone could care so little about their own child. He’d seen William’s lack of regard for Spencer in so many different ways and yet it still infuriated him each time. He couldn’t conceive of calmly continuing to work if something like this was happening to Jack. Hell, he was barely managing it now with Spencer! Not trusting his words, Aaron nodded at her. A moment later she was escorting Wolverine and Storm out of the station. That left Cyclops and Gambit with Aaron, Penelope and Ashley. Sighing, Aaron looked around the room. “Well, allow me to introduce who’s here. This is SA Ashley Seaver and our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia. Anything you need from us, just let us know.”

Before anyone could speak, a low, painful sound came from Penelope and suddenly her fingers were flying across the keyboard even as she spoke. “Sir. It…the feed started.”

It was only years of training that kept Aaron’s hands from shaking as he took the spare laptop and turned it to face him. The sight that met him had his stomach dropping straight down to his toes. _Reid_. Right there on the screen was his missing agent. Each victim had been held in a different place so far; Spencer was no different. His room looked nothing like the others. It looked to be a warehouse of some kind this time, though Aaron saw nothing to distinguish what kind of warehouse. The ground was cement and the wall in the background looked typical, with nothing special marking it. He was having a hard time looking at anything other than Spencer, though. The young genius was in center screen, drawing the eye instantly. His feet were bare and he was standing almost on his tiptoes in an obvious effort to relieve the stress on his wrists, which were held in manacles and stretched above his head. Between his feet they saw a metal ring embedded into the ground. The only article of clothing he wore was his slacks; the rest had been taken away. There was already a bruise bright on Spencer's left cheekbone that seemed to stand out on all that pale skin, as did the blood from the wound near the bruise. _That has to be where the Unsub knocked him out. He must’ve blitzed him_.

But it was the slightly defiant tilt to his chin that truly got to Aaron the most. Despite being mostly stripped and shackled, knowing what was coming and faced with a fear they had never wanted him to have to face again, still Spencer showed that quiet courage that was inside of him. His chin was tipped up and his eyes were steady on something off screen. The conference room went utterly silent as a voice came from the speakers. “Well hello! Are you all ready for the games to begin?”

The silence of the conference room was almost oppressive. Aaron slowly sat down, his eyes never leaving the laptop screen. Beside him, Cyclops sat as well. Gambit was sitting down at the table but he was pulling out his own laptop from the bag over his shoulder and setting it up on the table. Ashley stood by Penelope, watching as the tech analyst started to type furiously. Aaron couldn’t look away from the screen. He couldn’t take his eyes off his agent. His agent, whom he had failed.

Spencer's sudden voice startled them. “The games?” He spoke calmly and carefully, just a hint of curiosity to his words, as if this were another puzzle he was discussing with the team. “Is that what this is to you, then? A set of games?”

“Of course, doctor. Of course.” The voice that answered him was smooth and amused. Suddenly the man came on screen, the same man they’d seen in the last video. The same one the others say they saw in theirs. A man dressed from head to toe in absolute black. The only part of him that showed was his bright blue eyes. The rest was covered by black material. The Unsub strolled up to Spencer, stopping just out of reach. “Isn’t that what it always is? Each case you solve, each case you don’t solve, they’re all just another game. You play by your rules, your Unsubs play by theirs, and in the end there is always a winner and a loser. I wonder who will be the winner this time.”

“That’s one way of looking at things.” Spencer said agreeably.

If anything, that only amused the Unsub more. “And you have another view?”

“A few. But I confess, I’m slightly more interested in why _you_ view it this way.”

Laughter echoed over the speakers. “Come now, Doctor. Did you really think it would be so simple to get me to start talking? That you could just ask me questions and I would spill everything to you?” Again, that cold laugh. “I don’t think so. We play my game by my rules. Though, I will admit, I’ve never played against such a prestigious set of players before. Not only your beloved BAU team and the pathetic local officers, but now there are _X-Men_ there as well! Isn’t that wonderful!”

Wait a second… “How did he know you were here?” Aaron swore in a low voice to Cyclops. Son of a bitch! How did this guy know?

Their Unsub wasn’t done, however. He turned toward the camera and they swore they could see the smile in those eyes. “Seeing as how you naughty BAU brought in extra help, I figured I had to change the rules a little, just to make it fair. All of my other players had seven days to try to find their loved ones without the aid of police. All of them failed. But with so many of you working this, you don’t need the full seven, do you? Oh no, not you! So that’s the first rule change. You have one day, agents, X-Men, officers. One day to find the precious genius of the FBI. And with some talented hackers with you, I don’t think it’s fair to leave the feed up constantly, do you? So, once every three hours, exactly three hours, the feed will come on for thirty minutes, during which you will watch what happens to the man you claim to care for. You’ll see what happens when you do not protect your own.”

“How the hell are we supposed to do this?” Ashley burst out. “He’s making it impossible!”

The Unsub disappeared off screen for a moment. When he came back, he was facing away from the camera. However, whatever he’d grabbed was enough to have Spencer jerking in his chains. There was a panicked look in his eyes for a split second before he locked it down. That fear had the room going silent and the Unsub laughing. “Oh, don’t worry, Doctor.” The man reassured him. “I’ve done my research on you. I’m not going to give you the things Tobias gave you. That would be cruel, wouldn’t you say?”

The mention of Tobias had both Aaron and Penelope freezing and Spencer's jaw tightening. That was the only outward sign the young agent gave of his distress. His voice still remained calm. “As opposed to the torture you already have planned?”

“True.” The man nodded a little as if conceding a point. “But, I won’t give it to you for another reason. Tobias gave that to you to help you. To offer you escape. I don’t want you to have that luxury. I want you to feel it all but be unable to do a thing. So, I’m going to do something else entirely. According to some research I did on you, your little quirk doesn’t work quite right when you take a muscle relaxant, isn’t that correct? You can’t even touch a spark.”

This time the horror that popped into Spencer's eyes was so much stronger. His mouth moved for a second before words actually came out. “I knew I felt off.” He whispered. “You already gave me some.”

“Just a tad. Not enough to do much, I’m afraid.” The Unsub agreed. “I couldn’t have you ruining this before it started, now could I? But, it’s time for your next dose.” Without further ado, the Unsub moved forward. Then, in a move they hadn’t expected, he flung a fist out and caught Spencer right in the stomach, knocking the air from him and jerking his feet out from under him. In that moment of weakness, he darted in and pressed a needle into Spencer's skin, injecting him with the muscle relaxant. Aaron’s hands clenched in his lap under the table as he watched Spencer fight for air. Fight to get his feet back under him.

The Unsub reached out, grabbing Spencer's chin and jerking his head up. “We’ve already wasted fifteen of your thirty minutes, so we’ll have to make the next fifteen count. The time for talking is done.” And with no more words than that, the man made good on his word. It was one of the hardest things Aaron had ever had to watch. He had seen people hurt before; he had seen agents under his care be hurt. He’d even seen Spencer be hurt. Somehow, none of it compared to this. Not in this moment. The Unsub was making this some giant game and that seemed to make it all the worse. He didn’t simply beat Spencer. No, he took his time, playing with him. He’d stand behind him for a minute or so, making him wonder what was coming next, before finally lashing out. He hit him, kicked him, slapped him. All the while Spencer fought to keep his feet. He clenched his jaw and focused his eyes on a spot to the side of the camera and he took every hit. The occasional gasp or grunt came out but not a single scream.

Abruptly the Unsub stepped away from Spencer, striding forward to the camera until he was off screen. Once more they heard his voice, “Your three hours start now, as do your twenty four. Can you find him before the next round?” and then the camera was shut off.

For a long beat that really only felt like seconds, Aaron stared at the blank webpage. It wasn’t until Cyclops touched his arm that his attention snapped back to the present moment. Somehow he made his voice come out sounding normal, without a sign of any of his inner turmoil. “I imagine you have questions.” He said calmly. Turning, he looked to Ashley. “Shut the door, please. This is best kept inside this room.” Only when the door was shut did Aaron turn back toward Cyclops once more. “I never got around to mentioning it to the Professor before and, honestly, I wasn’t comfortable saying this over the phone. To keep my agent safe, this needs to stay here.”

“I understand.”

And Aaron knew that Cyclops did understand. Who better than another mutant? Nodding, Aaron prepared to tell someone a secret that wasn’t his own to share. “I imagine you already know now from what the Unsub said, but let me confirm it. Reid is…he’s a mutant. And no one outside of our team knows this.”

From his spot down the table, Gambit asked “What can he do?”

“He can manipulate electrical energy.” Penelope supplied. She, out of them all, had the best understanding. She and Spencer had discussed it more in depth than any of the others had. “It’s why he tends to avoid electronics really, even though people think he’s just anti-technology. He always jokes with me that my lair is like walking into a candy store. He wants to just absorb it all. Not only can he manipulate it, but he says his body can metabolize the electrical energy and turn it into pure energy that he can, well, use offensively.”

“And the muscle relaxer?” Cyclops asked.

Penelope’s expression turned a little frustrated. “I don’t know how he knows that. It’s not like Reid makes it common knowledge. When he takes a muscle relaxer, it makes it to where he can feel all the energy but he can’t do anything with it. He told me once that drawing in electrical energy was easy, but to let it out or to manipulate it in any way, it’s almost like a flexing of a muscle. Taking a muscle relaxer makes it so that he can’t flex that muscle. He said he hates the feeling it leaves him with. Absolutely hates it.” Her voice trailed off, an aching edge to it, and she looked down before going back to her computer. “I couldn’t get a lock on his signal but I’ll try and set up what I can for when it comes back online. He’s good, but I’m better. I’ll write a program to try and track him.”

“Can you have it ready in three hours?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know.” She admitted. “But I’m darn well going to try.”

CXCX

*1 Hour to next video*

*22 Hours to deadline*

The conference room might’ve looked like a bit of chaos to any outside observer, but it was a carefully controlled chaos on the inside. Everyone had returned from the hotel and all introductions had been made. Now was a matter of organizing their efforts while keeping an eye on the clock. To do this and do it right, the two teams needed to mesh their efforts and work together. The only thing was, there wasn’t much to go on. Their best bet was all the information they had here at the station. So once more they were going to go over it all, hoping that a fresh set of eyes would help them.

Seeing everyone settle in with folders and pictures, Gambit strolled over to Cyclops. “Fearless.” The drawled out word drew his boss’s attention. “Gambit gonna go out on de streets, talk to de local folks. Dere might be some info out dere. People might know things; people dat aint gonna come talking to de cops. Figured maybe Gambit and his Stormy could go talk to dem, see what can be found, _oui_?”

“Sounds good. Keep your com on you.” Cyclops warned.

Storm rose regally and moved to link her arm with Gambit’s. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Stormy, brother?” Her tone was affection even if her words were lecturing.

The young Cajun flashed her a grin. “ _D’accord_ , Stormy.” His grin wiped away as he looked at the clock and back at the room. “If we get something vital, we’ll get ahold of y’. If we aint back fo’ de time limit…we’ll do what we can.” With that, the two left.

Cyclops turned to look at the others, shaking his head slightly. He gave Aaron a reassuring smile. “He may seem carefree, but I assure you that there’s no one who can better gather information from street kids than Gambit. If there’s anything to be found out there, he’ll find it, and fast. He’s good at what he does.”

“Let’s just hope there’s something to be found.” Derek said in a low voice. No one had any response to that.

CXCX

For Spencer, the next three hours seemed to crawl by at the same time as racing past. After the Unsub shut the camera off, he had tied a blindfold over Spencer's eyes and then he’d left. Just left. Since then, Spencer had been hanging here, trying to balance on feet that were aching, the muscles in his calves protesting the movements. He tried to think as he hung there; it was the only thing he could really do. Moaning over his injuries would get him nowhere and he’d been hurt far worse in his life. He could handle this. He could take it.

The sound of a door opening drew his attention off to the side. Spencer strained his ears, trying to listen, to hear anything that might help him or warn him of what was to come. There was something that was almost metallic sounding that confused him at first. Then he found himself moving, his feet flattening on the ground, and he knew what that wound was. His chains had been lowered. But only enough that his feet could be flat on the ground, with just a tiny bit of slack. A tiny, tiny bit. Then there were more footsteps and Spencer heard rattling. “What are you doing?” He found himself asking.

“You have two options here, Dr. Reid.” The Unsub’s voice was low and amused. “Either spread your feet and let me attach these shackles to your ankles and to the floor hook, or I take this knife and stab your leg so you can’t move it and then I attach them. Which is it going to be?”

Only for a second did Spencer weigh his options. He had absolutely no doubt the man meant what he said. It was obvious in the signs of torture on the victims and in the easy humor he had as he’d uttered that threat. Though it went against everything in him to do it, Spencer spaced his feet out and braced them on the ground. He was rewarded with a chuckle before cold metal snapped around his ankle. Thankfully, it was over his pant leg. There was movement as it was most likely attached to the hook and then the other end was being snapped on his other ankle. He was completely restrained here. Heaven help him.

Though he could feel the energy from the camera in front of him, feeling the surge as the Unsub turned it on, he couldn’t reach out and grasp it. He could do nothing with it. All that energy and he couldn’t even use any of it to help himself. The drug in his system made it impossible. What was worse, the muscle relaxer was also making it more and more difficult to maintain his mental shields. That was one thing that Spencer knew he had to fight to maintain. Not even his team knew about that battle that he occasionally struggled with. They knew about his primary mutation, they didn’t know about his secondary one. They didn’t know he was an empath. And with this drug, it was becoming harder for him to keep up the shields necessary to keep from feeling the man’s emotions.

“Time for round two.” The Unsub said gleefully.

Spencer tried to brace himself. He tried to plant his feet and prepare for whatever came his way. He knew the camera would be on now and his team would be watching. He would not shame himself in front of them. He would be strong. But Spencer had forgotten one fundamental rule to pain—no matter how hard you try, you can never fully prepare for the shock of it on your body.

The whistle in the air was his only warning before the first strip of fire exploded over his back.

CXCX

*10 minutes to next video*

*15 hours and ten minutes to deadline*

Nothing. They had absolutely nothing.

Hours had gone by and still, they had nothing. There was ten minutes until the next video and they had nothing to stop it from happening. Nothing to even go on. Just, nothing. Three times now the video had streamed. Three times Spencer had been tortured on a live feed in front of them. Three thirty minute videos that would forever be burned in the memories of those that saw them. Even the ones who did not know him knew that they would never forget the young man who was somehow managing to stand so strong and sure through such pain. Even when reduced to screams in the last video, the first time his body had broken strength enough to let those screams free, there had still been strength to him. His screams hadn’t taken away from it. Who could blame him for screaming? The last video…the Unsub had simply hit him, but he had relished in slapping his palms onto the welts that decorated Spencer's backside from the flogging he’d received in the video before.

They all gathered now, closing off the conference room, shutting the door and the blinds. This was not something for the whole station to see. This was a private pain and they would keep it that way. With four laptops on the tables, two of which were set and prepared with a program that Gambit and Penelope had written together to try to trace the signal, they could only wait. Wait, as the minutes counted down. Ten minutes. Nine. Eight. Wait, and feel helpless, knowing that a man was about to be hurt and they had nothing. Seven. Six. Five. Wait, and pray for some miracle. Pray that he would be strong enough. Four. Three. Two.

The website feed came to life. All eyes locked onto the screens as once more, Spencer's figure came into view. Still shackled with his arms up, his ankles still hooked to the ring in the ground, he looked bruised and only slightly bloody and yet he was still standing, even if he did look like he was slumping just a bit. His feet still held underneath him. He was still blindfolded, something that made his team flinch. They knew Spencer's fear of the dark and they knew that the blindfold had to make things so much worse for him.

The Unsub was standing at Spencer's side, twirling a knife in his hands. “Tsk, tsk.” He said with a shake of his head. “Another three hours and still, nothing. How does that make you feel, Dr. Reid? Does it hurt? Does it make you angry, knowing that your team hasn’t found you? I thought they were supposed to be the best! Or is it just that they’re nothing without their pet genius?”

“They are the best.” Spencer said in a voice that sounded slightly thick. His last dose of muscle relaxant must still be strong in his system. The young man turned his head toward the Unsub, even though he couldn’t see him, and there was a woozy sort of smirk curling his lips. “And you can play your word games all you want, but you’ll never convince me that they’ll ever abandon me. They will look for me and they will find me. And I almost pity you when they do.”

“Oh, don’t bait him, kid.” Derek groaned softly at the computer. “Dammit, don’t bait him.”

Dave shook his head. “He knows the Unsub won’t kill him. It’s not part of the game.” He pointed out.

“No, but he’ll hurt him more.” Emily whispered. No one had any response for that.

The Unsub snickered at Spencer's words and gave a shake of his head. “You are a bold one, Dr. Reid, I’ll give you that.” He taunted. Lifting his knife, he put it under Spencer's chin, tilting his head up. “You’re almost too drugged for this to be fun. That last dose is lasting longer than I thought. Good. Now, let’s not waste any more time, eh? I think we’ll stick to your front, seeing as how someone in your past already nicely marked your back for me. Before we’re done, you’ll have to tell me where that burn came from. It’s quite extensive and beautiful.”

Spencer pulled his head back from the knife, slurring something unintelligible. The Unsub simply laughed and started his game.

CXCX

It took every ounce of strength Spencer had left in his body to keep his reactions to the cuts on his body mild. He focused entirely on making the appropriate noise, the one that would fit with his charade—for it was a charade he was playing right now. In his mind he counted the seconds, one by one, ticking off minute by minute in his mind as he played his part as best as possible. He needed the Unsub to believe him more drugged than he was. It wasn’t hard to slump down in his chains, not with the pain his body felt. The difficulty lay in modulating his reactions.

That grew a little easier when the Unsub tired of his knife and tossed it aside. Still in the dark, Spencer suddenly found himself falling, his body crashing onto the ground with a thump that made him scream weakly. Before he could recover, the chains on his hands were hooked to somewhere else—he couldn’t see to know that their chain had been hooked to the same ring as his ankle chains—and then a foot connected with his stomach. Spencer lost track of the pain. He lost track of how many times he tried to curl up, tried to move, only to be met with another fist or foot.

When it finally stopped, his head was sheltered in his arms to hide the tears that were streaming down his cheeks. He would not let the man see him cry. He would not give him that joy. There were words, the man saying something to the camera, and then a change in power before footsteps moving away. Spencer lay perfectly still as he listened to the door open and shut. Even then, he lay still longer, waiting to make sure the man really was gone. Only when he was sure did he take a deep breath and start to push past the minimal drug left in him, stretching with all his might for the electricity he could feel around him.

CXCX

There was more than one face that was wet with tears in the conference room at the station. Derek was sitting beside Penelope, holding on to her as she hid her face against his shoulder. The program she and Gambit had written hadn’t had time to complete before the video had been shut off. They were no closer than when they’d started. And all of them could only wonder how much longer Spencer would survive this game. Emily had to turn away, pacing to the wall to gather her composure. Ashley sat quietly crying, looking at a file in her lap. Dave was sitting forward in his chair, arms on his legs, staring down at the ground. Gambit was in an almost identical pose with his cheeks wet as well, Storm sitting beside him with her forehead pressed to the side of his head in silent comfort. Even Cyclops and Wolverine were taking a moment to recover, standing off by a wall, neither saying a word yet still standing close to one another. Aaron stood beside them, staring at the floor, saying nothing. What could he say? What could any of them say?

It was Gambit who finally did say something. The computer in front of him flashed something that caught his attention and he looked up. All of a sudden the room echoed with his cry. His fingers went racing over the keyboard, eyes trained on the screen. “Cher.” He called out toward Penelope. “Y’ see dis?”

Pulling away from Derek, Penelope looked at her screen. Then she gasped and she too was typing quickly. “It’s a direct line.” She suddenly breathed out. “Oh my word. It’s Reid!”

“Has to be.” Gambit agreed. His fingers flew faster and faster. All eyes were locked on the two of them. “De _homme_ must’ve been faking de drugged part, lulling de _connard_ so dat he could do dis. Dat’s one tough _homme_ dere. Ah! Got it!” Without warning Gambit launched up from his chair and spun. “We got de address. Let’s go! De damn place aint even ten minutes away.”

Energy seemed to pour into the room. Without any more words, everyone was racing away, gathering their vests and preparing to go bring the man home before it was too late!

CXCX

The effort it took to hold the link was almost more than Spencer could bear. He clung to it as long as he could, tapping into the camera and its computer and opening up as much of the computers information as he could. That took skill on a good day; today was definitely not a good day. He could only hope that it would be enough for Penelope. That she would be able to use it to find him.

Suddenly the door crashed open and Spencer jumped, dropping the link in a flash. It was too late, though. It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d been holding that energy or not when the door opened—the Unsub already knew. “You son of a bitch!” The words echoed shrilly around them before Spencer suddenly found a body on his, fists seeming to fly out of nowhere. Without his sight, he couldn’t tell where they were coming from. “You lying little bastard!”

Using the energy he had to try to send his message to Penelope had taken most of Spencer's strength. Because of that, his shields were low and he couldn’t stop the Unsub’s rage from slamming into him like knives to his brain. It crippled him worse than any of the hits did.

Hands wrapped around his throat and Spencer's thoughts became pain when his head slammed into the ground. Terror licked at his insides. _Please, please, let them come. Let them have gotten my message. Let them come_. Again his head was lifted and again it was slammed down. His whole world was centered on the pain in his mind and body and doing anything, anything, to get it to stop. Despite his shackles, he tried to strike out with hands and feet, paying no mind to the way the metal ripped at already abused skin. He was fighting for his life.

When the energy gathered in his hands, Spencer didn’t even notice at first. All the moving around had made his blindfold slip and he found himself staring up into that masked face, staring into cold blue eyes, and he was trying to shove his hands at that face to do something to get the bastard off of him before his split his head open on the ground and then suddenly Spencer was aware that he had drawn the electrical energy from around him and into his hands and at the same time that he shoved it against the man’s face, there were other sounds around them, shouts and bangs and so many things that Spencer didn’t even realize that he’d zapped the man right off of him just like he’d shoved a Taser into him.

His head was spinning and oh, shit, it hurt so much. Everything was spinning and fading at the edges and he fought to make his vision clear and not to let it blur. Then hands touched him and he didn’t even think, didn’t do anything but react off of instinct, letting the energy course over him so that the hands on him were shocked as well. Not enough to kill, but enough to knock them off. At least, some. One set of hands stayed on him. One was unaffected by him, no matter how he jacked the power up. Then it was just too much. Even with the electricity in him, it was too much. Spencer's body had taken too many blows, too much pain, and lost too much natural energy. With a gasp, he slumped back to the ground.

CXCX

It was pure shock that filled the warehouse. Shock when the BAU and X-Men had burst in to find the Unsub on top of Spencer, slamming his head into the ground. Shock as they saw all the blood. Shock as the man flew backward suddenly. Then the biggest shock of all as Derek, Cyclops and Wolverine had all tried to get a hold of the thrashing Spencer. There’d been a crackle in the air and then both Derek and Wolverine flew back, jerking their hands towards their chests. Cyclops didn’t even realize it at first. His being was focused on the body under his hands that suddenly slumped. Terror gripped him and he instinctively reached up, feeling for a pulse. When he found it, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was there. Faint, but there.

Everything after that happened in a rapid fire blur. The Unsub had stupidly tried to fight, ending his life as the bullets entered his chest. They all had a feeling it was what he had wanted. Then came the medics, swarming in and Spencer was put onto a gurney and whisked away to the hospital and the rest of them were left standing there as officers filed in to process the crime scene. Storm had finally been the one to tell the BAU team “Go. We will meet you shortly at the hospital. Go, see to your friend. We know that is where you wish to be. Allow us to care for things here.”

Not that there was anything for them to do here or that they’d be allowed to do. Now that the case was solved, the officers were watching the X-Men the way they would wild dogs, as if waiting for them to turn and attack. In short order, the four X-Men made their way out of the warehouse and toward their rental car. Only when they were inside and safely away from prying ears did Cyclops stop being Cyclops for a moment and let himself be Scott, turning to look at his team. “What happened in there? One minute you and Agent Morgan were there with me and the next you weren’t.”

Logan gave him a strange look before shaking his head. “You didn’t feel it? The kid zapped us. Not hard enough to do damage but enough to jolt us off.”

“Really?” That had Scott’s eyebrows winging up. He hadn’t felt anything.

Leaning forward from the backseat, Ororo looked curiously at him. “Do you think you have some kind of immunity to his power?”

“The only person I’ve had immunity against is Alex. He’s the only person who can hit me with his powers and it does nothing, just like mine do nothing to him, but Hank says that’s because we’re brothers.”

“Ya aint got an extra brother running around, do ya?” Logan teased.

Rolling his eyes even though he knew Logan couldn’t see it, Scott turned the car on. “Let’s just get the hospital. I for one would like to make sure the kid ended up okay.”

That quieted the car down. It was a somber group that made their way toward the hospital, each of them wondering the whole way there if they had been on time to save this young agent, or if they’d been too late.


End file.
